Disposable absorbent articles worn to assist in the collection of bodily discharges of incontinent persons are well known in the art. Such conventional arts include absorbent articles which comprise a belt for attaching the article around the waist of the wearer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,522 issued on Aug. 4, 1992 to Fahrenkrug, et al. discloses a diaper comprising a disposable absorbent chassis assembly and a reusable elasticized belt for attachment of the diaper around the waist of the wearer. The belt disclosed in the Fahrenkrug patent is threaded through fenestrations formed in the side margins of the chassis assembly, and the ends of the belt then engaged with one another around a wearer in order to snugly position the chassis against the wearer's body. Such a structure enables the chassis assembly to firmly be supported by the belt while the diaper is worn. However, the diaper of the patent suffers from the drawback that users or caregivers need to remove the belt from the wearer's body whenever they replace the used chassis assembly with another one.
Another representative belted absorbent article is disclosed in, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,604 issued on May 25, 1999 to Rönnberg, et al. It discloses a waist belt for supporting an absorbent garment. In the Rönnberg patent, the belt that is rectangular in shape is worn first so that it encircles around the wearer's waist, and then the belt is fastened in place by the mechanical fastener provided on the belt. Then, one end of the absorbent garment is attached to the outside of the belt on the dorsal waist of the wearer by the hook type fastener provided on the absorbent garment. The other end of the absorbent garment is then passed between the wearer's legs and secured to the outside of the belt on the ventral waist of the wearer by the other hook type fastener provided on the absorbent garment. U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,970 issued on Oct. 26, 1999 to Carlbark, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,099B2 issued on Aug. 13, 2002 to Rönnberg also disclose a waist belt for supporting absorbent garments which is similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,604.
In such prior arts as described above, the disposable absorbent assembly is attached to the waist belt after the waist belt is worn on the wearer's body. Therefore, users and/or caregivers do not need to expressly remove the belt from the wearer's body when they replace the used absorbent assembly with another one. This results in making the process for exchanging the used absorbent assembly for a new one efficient. However, such conventional waist belts for supporting disposable absorbent assemblies suffer from the drawback that it is difficult for users and/or caregivers to adjust the position of the absorbent assembly on the waist belt at will when they try to attach the absorbent assembly on the waist belt. Such a drawback results from the fact that the conventional waist belts are typically provided in elongated shapes. Because of the elongated shape of the waist belt, the width of the conventional waist belt has not been enough to freely adjust the position of the absorbent assembly on the waist belt. Although one solution on this is to increase the width of the waist belt, the improvident widening of the waist belt can lead to interference of the leg movements of the wearer. In addition, such a merely wide waist belt is apt to be soiled by excreta discharged on the absorbent assembly since it covers the wearer's skin close to the defecation point on the absorbent assembly. This demands users and/or caregivers to frequently exchange the soiled waist belt for a new one. Such a frequent exchange of the waist belt results in increasing the cost of the waist belt for consumers.
Accordingly, there still exists a need for an absorbent article comprising a waist belt and a disposable absorbent assembly which allows users and/or caregivers to easily adjust the position of the absorbent assembly on the waist belt when they attach the disposable assembly on the waist belt. There still remains a need to provide an improved waist belt for supporting a disposable assembly which has a enough attachment area to adjust the position of the disposable assembly on the waist belt without interfering with the leg movements of the wearer, and which is not easily be soiled while the waist belt is worn.